Longshot album Love is for Losers

[BUBBYBUB]

Did Billie play all the instruments on the longshot cause some sources say so and the album does not credit his other bandmates just. His son 

[pacejunkie punk]

7 minutes ago, BUBBYBUB said:

Did Billie play all the instruments on the longshot cause some sources say so and the album does not credit his other bandmates just. His son 

Unconfirmed but it would appear so. Take the EPs for example, he typically plays all the instruments on Green Day demos and these EPs he said were demos that he made in his garage. If he did all that himself there’s no reason to think he didn’t record the album the same way, particularly if only joey is credited. Had there been others, they would have received credit as well.

On a more random note, I was listening to Devil’s Kind and it reminded me of the scene in Ordinary World where his 11-ish year old daughter says it’s her favorite song and her parents are all happy that she listened to it all the time. All I thought was “You do realize that it is a song about your dad doing a lot of drugs right?” 

[Sanity Loan]

1 hour ago, BUBBYBUB said:

Did Billie play all the instruments on the longshot cause some sources say so and the album does not credit his other bandmates just. His son 

Yes, other than drums on "Happiness", which was played by his son Joey.

[Beerjeezus]

Do we know for sure? 

[desertrose]

God I just want a full length vinyl release on this, or even a CD.  This listening on spotify is crazy. I hate it.  I like to play it loud on the record player.

[pacejunkie punk]

8 minutes ago, desertrose said:

God I just want a full length vinyl release on this, or even a CD.  This listening on spotify is crazy. I hate it.  I like to play it loud on the record player.

Do you have a Bluetooth speaker? It sounds good that way. I also use Apple TV and airplay it it’s like a stereo.

[gaslight13]

24 minutes ago, pacejunkie punk said:

Do you have a Bluetooth speaker? It sounds good that way. I also use Apple TV and airplay it it’s like a stereo.

Not as good as a vinyl though or even CD honestly. They compress mp3s for Spotify so much. I’ll be lazy sometimes and plug my phone into my stereo system rather than play the same album on vinyl and it sounds like garbage in comparison.

[pacejunkie punk]

7 minutes ago, gaslight13 said:

Not as good as a vinyl though or even CD honestly. They compress mp3s for Spotify so much. I’ll be lazy sometimes and plug my phone into my stereo system rather than play the same album on vinyl and it sounds like garbage in comparison.

Hard to remember. I haven’t played a vinyl since the eighties 

[MillenniumFan]

It’s funny, because for a long time I genuinely thought vinyl records were just an aesthetic gimmick these days, so I always went for CDs only (and occasionally digital downloads). But then I looked into compression, dynamic range and the loudness war and holy shit, everything today is so goddamn compressed. The term ,,Loudness War’’ sums up all the how and why questions; I strongly suggest everyone google it or look it up on YouTube, very interesting topic. The reduced dynamic range usually means drowned out individual tracks and less clarity and punch in the mix. On average vinyl releases lack this hyper compression and digital limiting on the mastering (partly because of physical limitations) and so have a greater dynamic range. To my ears, they tend to sound a lot better. Unfortunately, with the exception of Nimrod, all GD releases on CD and download have had the compressed mastering with no option for greater dynamic range. So the records are really the only option for audiophiles such as myself. Or Hdtracks... 

[LaughingClock]

7 hours ago, Hermione said:

If the machine was already going. What if the alternative was just having a long holiday like Mike and Tre before getting started on GD again? 

Also previous side projects The Network and FBHT didn't slow down the following albums, they helped provide creative inspiration to work on them. I mean it could slow it down but just saying it's not certain, it depends where they are with GD stuff.

For sure, nothing is certain in this world but again, I’m not just saying it because I think it but I had the same thought about the creative process leading into the studio and being juiced by the whole other side project.

I mean I can’t have you more than read between the lines but had there been no The Longshot, whenever the next GD album drops would have been earlier if it wasn’t for this. That said, we have this.

[Thatsername]

22 hours ago, Christian's Inferno! said:

I really hope the next album doesn't sound like The Longshot. I think the whole point of the side projects is that it's supposed to be completely different to what came before/after it. The Network was completely different to everything they've done, Foxboro was completely new at the time and while The Longshot is a familiar GD sound (i.e the trilogy), I really hope the next album sounds unlike it.

The side projects I think are really good for getting the best music out of Green Day. My two favourite GD albums were preceded by side projects so that might be the secret to a fantastic GD record

Just speculating, but maybe the reason why Billie made Longshot is that he already has a draft or at least some ideas what the next GD record will sound like and the songs he wrote for Longshot didn't quite fit in, that's why he released them as a side project. So yeah, I think the new GD album will sound nothing like Longshot. I love how reflective and "rainy-day-sad" (I think that's what Billie called it once) the songs are, but I don't think that rainy-day-sadness will be the main theme of a new GD record.

I know that some on here don't want the new album to be political. I do. Billie said Trump will never get a record out of him, but I just don't believe him He's caring too much, his (over-)reaction to some political troll comments on his Instagram prove that. I'm pretty sure that the confusion, fear, anger and frustration we all feel when we look at the state of the world today will play a role on a new GD record. AI and 21CBD were both ahead of their time, even prophetic; like prophecies of nightmares that became true. A new political record from those guys could be like a window into a future we don't even have a clue of yet. It could be huge. Apocalyptic maybe, but huge.

[DookieLukie]

No more politics. Keep the topics of the songs personal.

[pacejunkie punk]

2 minutes ago, DookieLukie said:

No more politics. Keep the topics of the songs personal.

Billie takes politics personally it’s kind of hard to separate the two. But if it can be done in a way that’s also funny like Back in the USA and Kill Your Friends I’d be all in favor. Even Billie said 21CB was too dark and apocalyptic, that they had lost the goofiness he always loved about GD. I thought RevRad could have used even more humor too. Hopefully they’re headed in that direction and they can still say something topical and important.

[Beerjeezus]

6 hours ago, DookieLukie said:

No more politics. Keep the topics of the songs personal.

Not that I have anything against personal songs, but a mix of both is where it's at for me as long as the political stuff isn't shallow.

[Q-Man]

Honestly I know I'm in the minority of fans that disagrees with Billie's political views but I think he writes his best music when writing about politics. He is so passionate about it and it really shows through the song quality. AI and 21CB are two of the best albums of all time because of this. I would love for him to be getting out all his goofy stuff with The Longshot (which has delivered top notch, amazing songs) and then bring GD back with a huge, frustration driven, serious album again.

[Jollyroger118]

I disagree with a lot of Billies politics but to me AI and 21st weren't super political but more about what it feels like to live through these/those times and that I do agree with. Every day I read news articles and essays about politics and whats going on with the world and I just feel more disillusioned and confused. I just want the truth and everything feels biased one way or another and I hate it. I feel like nothing is the truth. But I do think Billie is a little too out of touch now and days.

[DookieLukie]

12 hours ago, pacejunkie punk said:

Billie takes politics personally it’s kind of hard to separate the two. But if it can be done in a way that’s also funny like Back in the USA and Kill Your Friends I’d be all in favor. Even Billie said 21CB was too dark and apocalyptic, that they had lost the goofiness he always loved about GD. I thought RevRad could have used even more humor too. Hopefully they’re headed in that direction and they can still say something topical and important.

One of my favorite things about Green Day is their tongue-in-cheek humor. 21CB and RevRad both lacked that. Very serious, depressing records, which is fine. But AI got political while still sounding light-hearted and, despite popular opinion, didn't point too many fingers. Yes, some lyrics target Bush, but the majority of the political commentary on that album is equally critical of both political sides and can be interpreted in a few different ways. I'm a big fan of political music that is more subtle.

I think it would bode better for GD's legacy to make a non-political album. They've got that reputation of being agenda-pushers since AI, and every time they get the spotlight it's because of something political (e.g. "No Trump, no KKK,...", Troubled Times video, Back In the USA video, Billie's angry Twitter rants). I'd like to see Green Day have a "prove it" album with just plain good music.

[MillenniumFan]

Agree for the most part, but I don't think they have anything to prove to anyone really...

[Hermione]

4 hours ago, DookieLukie said:

One of my favorite things about Green Day is their tongue-in-cheek humor. 21CB and RevRad both lacked that. Very serious, depressing records, which is fine. But AI got political while still sounding light-hearted and, despite popular opinion, didn't point too many fingers. Yes, some lyrics target Bush, but the majority of the political commentary on that album is equally critical of both political sides and can be interpreted in a few different ways. I'm a big fan of political music that is more subtle.

This isn't true and the band has stated it isn't true though. I prefer when political music is less subtle and more direct. That way people can't pretend things like American Idiot was criticizing both sides equally and not criticizing a conservative/right wing president and oppressive conservative/right wing ideals just as songs like Minority had before. I've even seen people claiming it's completely against the left wing and people like Hilary Clinton more than people like Trump, and Billie himself has talked about how republicans would say to him yeah your album totally said what I thought and he was just thinking no, you're supposed to hate it. There's interpretation and there's just believing it's about what you want it to be about. They write from a liberal/left wing perspective and always have.

I'm not too into political tracks that just a bit of a vague call to arms (eg Revolution Radio). But I'd love to see some political songs that are very ballsy and direct or about specific issues. When they come from a real, fired up place they can be just as good and just as personal and songs about "personal" stuff.

[MillenniumFan]

2 hours ago, Hermione said:

This isn't true and the band has stated it isn't true though. I prefer when political music is less subtle and more direct. That way people can't pretend things like American Idiot was criticizing both sides equally and not criticizing a conservative/right wing president and oppressive conservative/right wing ideals just as songs like Minority had before. I've even seen people claiming it's completely against the left wing and people like Hilary Clinton more than people like Trump, and Billie himself has talked about how republicans would say to him yeah your album totally said what I thought and he was just thinking no, you're supposed to hate it. There's interpretation and there's just believing it's about what you want it to be about. They write from a liberal/left wing perspective and always have.

I'm not too into political tracks that just a bit of a vague call to arms (eg Revolution Radio). But I'd love to see some political songs that are very ballsy and direct or about specific issues. When they come from a real, fired up place they can be just as good and just as personal and songs about "personal" stuff.

I guess I agree in part: They certainly didn't want to create the misimpression of a false equivalence. Billie was also very vocal about the politics of it right from the get-go, critizing Bush left, right and center. That being said, what this album had and what in my opinion later albums lack or have to a much lesser extent, is self-reflected criticism. It was certainly a f*** you to the Republicans and George  W. Bush, but it also made fun of main-stream America: the sensationalism, media-craze and heavy consumerism. And it never said ''we're always right, you're wrong''. It was a kind of admission that while all these crazy things are happening in the world around, they're stuck right in the middle too. They are a part of it. They are also ''American idiots''. The criticism was also certainly from a mostly left-wing / liberal perspective, but it wasn't partisan. It didn't point fingers at one particular group or person, while supporting another blindly. I'm not saying that's what either 21CB and RevRad did, rather I think they were just too depressing and cynical in places for my liking, but they didn't explicitly state the contrary either. Both albums don't self-reflect as much on the politics. There are personal songs, but there almost seems to be a clear divide between personal and political. AI in my opinion managed to intertwine the two quite well, leaving it (to a certain extent) up to the listener to interpret. Holiday, for example, has a very clear personal and political level, but so has American Idiot if you think about it. It shows the frustration, anger and fear the protagonist feels being a part of the modern world of, while also angrily showing the middle-finger to the establishment. For me personally, that has never been matched quite in the same way by any of the following albums.

[Hermione]

17 minutes ago, MillenniumFan said:

I guess I agree in part: They certainly didn't want to create the misimpression of a false equivalence. Billie was also very vocal about the politics of it right from the get-go, critizing Bush left, right and center. That being said, what this album had and what in my opinion later albums lack or have to a much lesser extent, is self-reflected criticism. It was certainly a f*** you to the Republicans and George  W. Bush, but it also made fun of main-stream America: the sensationalism, media-craze and heavy consumerism. And it never said ''we're always right, you're wrong''. It was a kind of admission that while all these crazy things are happening in the world around, they're stuck right in the middle too. They are a part of it. They are also ''American idiots''. The criticism was also certainly from a mostly left-wing / liberal perspective, but it wasn't partisan. It didn't point fingers at one particular group or person, while supporting another blindly. I'm not saying that's what either 21CB and RevRad did, rather I think they were just too depressing and cynical in places for my liking, but they didn't explicitly state the contrary either. Both albums don't self-reflect as much on the politics. There are personal songs, but there almost seems to be a clear divide between personal and political. AI in my opinion managed to intertwine the two quite well, leaving it (to a certain extent) up to the listener to interpret. Holiday, for example, has a very clear personal and political level, but so has American Idiot if you think about it. It shows the frustration, anger and fear the protagonist feels being a part of the modern world of, while also angrily showing the middle-finger to the establishment. For me personally, that has never been matched quite in the same way by any of the following albums.

I do agree that it also criticized those things about mainstream America you mention that aren''t exclusive to one side of the political spectrum and included themselves. But as well as those topics that are neutral in terms of the political spectrum I think right wing political ideology was specifically targeted, while left wing political ideology wasn't. JOS is showing the middle finger to the conservative, right wing establishment just as Minority is about rebelling against the oppressive conservative "Moral Majority" (the name of a conservative group). A lot of it is just about politics/America in general but there certainly isn't equal criticism of the left and right going on, is all I'm saying.

[gaslight13]

10 hours ago, Hermione said:

This isn't true and the band has stated it isn't true though. I prefer when political music is less subtle and more direct. That way people can't pretend things like American Idiot was criticizing both sides equally and not criticizing a conservative/right wing president and oppressive conservative/right wing ideals just as songs like Minority had before. I've even seen people claiming it's completely against the left wing and people like Hilary Clinton more than people like Trump, and Billie himself has talked about how republicans would say to him yeah your album totally said what I thought and he was just thinking no, you're supposed to hate it. There's interpretation and there's just believing it's about what you want it to be about. They write from a liberal/left wing perspective and always have.

I'm not too into political tracks that just a bit of a vague call to arms (eg Revolution Radio). But I'd love to see some political songs that are very ballsy and direct or about specific issues. When they come from a real, fired up place they can be just as good and just as personal and songs about "personal" stuff.

I agree as long as they don't get too specific on Trump language-wise. I like that I can sing the songs on AI now and have them feel just as relevant as they were during the Bush administration. Sure there are lines that are specific to Bush (like referring to the "president gasman" in Holiday) but the overall sentiment can be applied to current times as well. If they get too specific the songs will become dated too quickly, maybe even by the time the album is out given when it will likely fall compared to the next presidential election.

Billie can't be worrying about conservatives not getting that he's criticizing their representatives/viewpoints when he's writing. That's on them for not getting what's actually going on in the world or at minimum not knowing GD's views are. I listen to a number of very political groups who, like GD, don't hide their liberal views, and yet tons of people who disagree find some way to convince themselves that the songs don't go against their views. This will always happen no matter how specific they get. 

[DookieLukie]

14 hours ago, Hermione said:

This isn't true and the band has stated it isn't true though. I prefer when political music is less subtle and more direct. That way people can't pretend things like American Idiot was criticizing both sides equally and not criticizing a conservative/right wing president and oppressive conservative/right wing ideals just as songs like Minority had before. I've even seen people claiming it's completely against the left wing and people like Hilary Clinton more than people like Trump, and Billie himself has talked about how republicans would say to him yeah your album totally said what I thought and he was just thinking no, you're supposed to hate it. There's interpretation and there's just believing it's about what you want it to be about. They write from a liberal/left wing perspective and always have.

I'm not too into political tracks that just a bit of a vague call to arms (eg Revolution Radio). But I'd love to see some political songs that are very ballsy and direct or about specific issues. When they come from a real, fired up place they can be just as good and just as personal and songs about "personal" stuff.

Billie's personal beliefs about the direction of the record's criticism is really irrelevant. A few songs directly target Bush and conservative America, but most of the lyrics are rather ambiguous. In a vacuum, much of the album displays displeasure with general corruption on either side. Billie is calling out extremists and the mis-informed, and both political sides have such people. To say only conservatives are bad is just ignorant. You also can't dismiss personal interpretation of lyrics. I love the line, "Where will all the martyrs go when the virus cures itself?" from Letterbomb. I don't know the exact intent of this line, but I've always found it to be a poignant criticism of extremists or people who get adamantly fixated on certain sociological topics. On Insomniac, "Can't control the chaos behind the gun" can be seen as a stance on gun control and how it's not the weapon, it's the person using it. 

Overall, I'll repeat me original argument which I've stated hundreds of times that American Idiot is a personal album laced with political commentary when applicable.

[gaslight13]

18 minutes ago, DookieLukie said:

Billie's personal beliefs about the direction of the record's criticism is really irrelevant. A few songs directly target Bush and conservative America, but most of the lyrics are rather ambiguous. In a vacuum, much of the album displays displeasure with general corruption on either side. Billie is calling out extremists and the mis-informed, and both political sides have such people. To say only conservatives are bad is just ignorant. You also can't dismiss personal interpretation of lyrics. I love the line, "Where will all the martyrs go when the virus cures itself?" from Letterbomb. I don't know the exact intent of this line, but I've always found it to be a poignant criticism of extremists or people who get adamantly fixated on certain sociological topics. On Insomniac, "Can't control the chaos behind the gun" can be seen as a stance on gun control and how it's not the weapon, it's the person using it. 

Overall, I'll repeat me original argument which I've stated hundreds of times that American Idiot is a personal album laced with political commentary when applicable.

It's not at all irrelevant. Yes, art is meant to be interpreted and people can come up with very different interpretations, even ones they can make a good argument for, but the intentions and meaning behind what the artist created is not irrelevant and IS what the song/art means. Anything other than that is only an interpretation. That said, an argument can be made that a piece of art is bad if it's intended meaning isn't coming across clearly. Personally, I like art where aspects of it are ambiguous and knowing context of the world and the artist's views make it less so (both of which are relevant). I'm sure Billie knows that the world isn't black and white with one side being perfect and the other being awful, but when the majority of the problem is on one side, they become the focus. If you have two little kids and one is slowly making a mess with his food, and the other is running through the house hitting everything with a baseball bat, your focus is on stopping the kid with the bat.

I agree with you that it's a personal album, but I don't think it's just "laced" with political commentary, I think it actually shows how deeply connected politics are with peoples' lives. You can't just separate the two like the "i don't like politics" crowd seems to think. 

I'm glad Billie has this longshot project to hopefully have some fun before he gets into the next GD album because I have a feeling it will be even heavier than Rev Rad.

[That Dude]

15 hours ago, Hermione said:

This isn't true and the band has stated it isn't true though. I prefer when political music is less subtle and more direct. That way people can't pretend things like American Idiot was criticizing both sides equally and not criticizing a conservative/right wing president and oppressive conservative/right wing ideals just as songs like Minority had before. I've even seen people claiming it's completely against the left wing and people like Hilary Clinton more than people like Trump, and Billie himself has talked about how republicans would say to him yeah your album totally said what I thought and he was just thinking no, you're supposed to hate it. There's interpretation and there's just believing it's about what you want it to be about. They write from a liberal/left wing perspective and always have.

I'm not too into political tracks that just a bit of a vague call to arms (eg Revolution Radio). But I'd love to see some political songs that are very ballsy and direct or about specific issues. When they come from a real, fired up place they can be just as good and just as personal and songs about "personal" stuff.

I do remember Billie Joe talking about how "Holiday" does have one jab at John Kerry (The politician who cross the line to find the money's on the other side) and how they were sort of disappointed with how Democrats were operating.  Not equal for both sides.   But Idiot was deep.  Over the story arc, you're left wondering exactly where the character sits in the midst of all his troubles. 

Back on topic.....The Longshot album and demos are still in my car, but I'm currently still spinning ATTENTION ATTENTION! by Shinedown instead. I may switch back to The Longshot soon.  I haven't played the demos into the ground yet!   This year album releases are looking sparse so far..........Not sure what's going to get me through until the next Green Day album, but the hopefuls are:     New Weezer, Jonathan Davis, Blue October, DMB, Nas and Mike Shinoda.  Are The Offspring ever going to release a new album?   They've been hinting at one for NEARLY FIVE YEARS NOW.   GRRRR.

Hopefully The Longshot will drop at least one more single and have some more fun before it's all said and done.    I wonder if this will be a one-off or their will be more Longshot music in the future?